


At Last

by The_Whip_Hand_81



Category: American Actor RPF, Sebastian Stan - Fandom
Genre: Afraid to love, Angry Love, Angst, Arguing, Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Reader request, Sebastian Stan - Freeform, Weddings, commitment issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:19:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7696195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Whip_Hand_81/pseuds/The_Whip_Hand_81
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Reader Request*</p><p>Gem wonders why her long-time boyfriend, Sebastian, hasn't popped the question yet. It takes a friend's wedding to bring up all the  unwanted emotions Gem (and Sebastian) had brimming about marriage to a boiling point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At Last

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GemIsDiamond](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemIsDiamond/gifts).



> The song mentioned "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri (if you haven't heard it), is mentioned. 
> 
> http://youtu.be/q9ayN39xmsI
> 
> The title was changed because as I wrote this story, I was listening to my playlist when the song "At Last" by Etta James came on while I wrote the ending so I took it as a sign and changed it to the current title. =)  
> Have a listen:  
> http://youtu.be/S-cbOl96RFM
> 
> For Gem!

Sebastian is sitting at a large round table surrounded by people he's known basically since coming to America when he was a child. He is the Best Man at his childhood friend's wedding inside a small banquet hall in the city.  A relatively small affair with 50 of the newlyweds' family and friends have gathered. To Sebastian's left sits his girlfriend, Gem, dressed in a beautiful black strapless dress and black high heel shoes. Sebastian and Gem met through the bride and groom four years ago at a New Year's Eve party and were instantly attracted to one another. Sebastian found Gem's sense of humor to be disarming for a female - she laughs at bathroom humor more than she should and makes light of the most serious situations. Yet, around crowds or unfamiliar people, Gem will clam up her witty personality and not reveal anything to anyone unless she saw fit. That's why he loves her, she was just like him; quiet and reserved around strangers but dangerously hilarious around friends and family. Sebastian looks over at her as she explains to the newly-married bride the time she vomited on Sebastian's shoes on their first date. The outer edges of his eyes crinkle as he smiles lovingly at her, as she continues to make everyone laugh. A twinkle in his bright blue eyes, he sighs as he thinks to himself, 'I'm the luckiest bastard to have her.' A friend sitting to Seb's right nudges him in the arm to wake him up from his loving thought, reminding him to give his Best Man speech. 

A clinking of a fork to his champagne flute, Sebastian stands up and clears his throat, getting the small room's attention. Gem looks up at his side, holding her glass filled with bubbling champagne, smiling at her beloved boyfriend. 

"Good evening, everyone. Thanks for coming out and sharing this wonderful day with Noah and Ava. I've known Noah since I was 12, he was actually the only person who didn't make fun of me because of my accent or want to beat me up because I was a weird looking chubby kid from Romania. Instead, he befriended me and helped introduce me to American culture....and illegal scrambled Playboy TV in his parents' basement..." everyone laughs. 

Gem laughs at maximum volume even though she's heard Sebastian practice this speech fifty times a day for the last several weeks. She stares up at him as he drabbles on about his best friend and gets lost in her thoughts. Sebastian is magical to Gem. She constantly tries to find flaws in this perfect human being but finds nothing. The man wouldn't even hurt a fly. Literally. He shoos them out of windows or open doors. Although, there is something that Gem can't quite figure out about him. After 4 years of being in a committed relationship, countless vacations, family gatherings with both families, bad times and good times and scary times, Gem feels like she should have a ring on her finger by now. Family and her closest friends ask her constantly about marriage but Gem just shyly shrugs and gives them all the same answer, "I don't know...maybe we're not ready." She knew that was bullshit because she's been ready since the first time he said he loved her while vacationing in the Adirondacks in NY. He brought her out to the middle of the Adirondack trails in the woods and over a babbling brook, shouted at the top of his lungs that he loved her so that it echoed throughout the forest, letting every human and creature hear his call. 

Applause startle Gem from her daydream and she drinks her glass, setting it down as Sebastian settles back down into his chair next to her. He turns to face Gem with a devoted smile, placing his hand on her cheek, "I love you, Gemmi." He places a chaste kiss on her lips as she touches his hand, holding it a little longer on her face. 

"Aaawww," everyone sitting around the table says in unison. 

"So! When's it going to be you and Gem's turn to walk down the aisle, Sebastian?" blurts out the new bride, her new husband giving her a dirty look as if not to ask. A hush falls over the table as Gem slowly turns her eyes to look at her boyfriend's. Sebastian sighs and lets go of Gem's face to sit back in his seat and takes a pause. 

"Well..." he says as Gem stares with hopeful eyes, "we've discussed it but, uh, we're not up to that point in our relationship yet." 

"But, you've been dating for 4 years.." the nosy bride says. Her husband finally tells her, "Ava? We've talked about this. Mind your business. Obviously, it's a touchy subject." 

Gem suddenly feels stares from all over the room (even though they are sitting at a table of 10). She feels embarrassed and, somehow, the butt of a joke. She can feel her face become red with anger and shame. Anger at Sebastian because they never really spoke about marriage before, not seriously. And shame because she feels left out of growing milestones in a woman's life: one of them being married. She feels like the old adage of 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride' is becoming truer and truer with each passing year with Sebastian. Sebastian tightens his lips in frustration at being asked that in front of everyone and places a hand under the table on Gem's knee to console her. 

It only made her more angry. 

Tears begin to well up in her eyes as their friends kept discussing amongst themselves why people wait so long in relationships to get married. Gem hates to cry in front of people, especially ones she knows. She doesn't want anyone to ever see her cry, even Sebastian. Even though he is the reason why she is hurting. Gem pushes Seb's hand off her knee and excuses herself from the table to walk to the ladies room. Then, she has a second thought and turns back to the table and says to Noah and Ava with a fake smile, "I'm not feeling very well. I'm going to take a cab home now. Congratulations, guys, really. Thank you for a lovely evening." 

Sebastian shoots up from his seat, worry in his eyes, "Gemmi, what happened?"

Gem glares at his soft facial expression and whispers back, "Really? You have to ask?" she turns to walk but Sebastian grabs her hand. 

"Babe -" 

She whips her hand away, not caring that everyone was looking, "Don't." She walks away as fast as she can before any tears slip from her eyes as Sebastian watches her go, pain on his face. 

*******

Gem slams the front door to their apartment and throws off her heels, a few tears already streaking down her face, as she turns on her iPhone playlist on shuffle and exits the livingroom into her bedroom. Ominously, the first song to play is Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" - a song that Gem always tells her best friend that when the day should ever come when her and Sebastian got married, this will be their "First Dance" song. 

The first few words of the song are sung, jolting Gem from her anger, she stops what she's doing to listen. Making her ever more enraged, Gem runs back into the livingroom, picks up her iPhone and throws it against the farthest wall, stopping the bluetooth music. She grabs a photo of Sebastian and her kissing under a palm tree in Hawaii two years ago off the side table, throwing it after the iPhone and screams until the air in her lungs are gone. 

Keys are heard unlocking the door, Sebastian opens the door, his tone a combination of worry and fear for his life in his voice, "Gem, what are you doing?" 

She spins around, briskly walking up to Sebastian and sends her small fists beating into his muscular chest, yelling, "What's wrong with me, huh?! Why don't you tell me what's wrong with me so I can fix it?!" 

Sebastian grabs her wrists to stop her pounding on him and shakes his head, "Gem - Gemmi, What are you talking about, babe? There's nothing wrong with you." 

"Yes there is! Just tell me if I ever did anything wrong to you, I swear I can fix it!" she looks up at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes. 

"Believe me when I say, there is NOTHING wrong with you, Gemmi.." he says softly. 

Gem lowers her head in sorrow, not meeting his gaze, a small voice coming from her throat, "Then...why don't you want to marry me?" 

Sebastian's face drops like his heart was just ripped out of his chest, he is speechless. He pulls her into his chest, gently rubbing her back as she sobs into him. "Babe....I don't know how to explain this without sounding..ridiculous." 

She muffles into his black tuxedo, "Try."

Sebastian's face winces as he doesn't want to tell her his family's orgins story, "My only experiences with marriage were never healthy ones. My parents divorced when I was 2 or 3 and left me and my mom. My mom remarried a great guy but it had its ups and downs. I never really had a good role model for marriage so I never thought about it ever happening to me....I mean, you can spend your whole life with someone and not need a certificate to tell you that you love somebody, right? It's just...difficult to say that I would be a good husband..."

Gem quickly pulls away from him, seething, as she jabs a finger into his chest, "Bullshit! Don't give me a cop out story! You think that no one would ever want to marry you solely based on your parents experiences?? You actually think that you have 'inherited' their lack of love and devotion for a loving partner?"

Sebastian sighs, closing his eyes and nodding in agreement. 

Gem steps up to him, her eyes not as hard and emblazened with rage as before, "And you would risk losing it all? All the years, the memories, the hard times and milestones together........me? All because you fear you can't love someone?" she studies his blue eyes turned grey, a red tinge to the whites of his eyes as he is trying his hardest to withhold his tears from her. He bites his lower lip and nods his head slowly. 

A gasp escapes her mouth, "You....you don't....love me?" Her eyes well up with tears again as she watches the expression of his sad eyes change. 

Sebastian feels the sudden urge to kiss his girlfriend, show her she is someone to him. That he DOES love her, he just can't bring himself to speak without his voice cracking and breaking down into tears himself. His hands grab her face and pulls her up to his face, his lips crashing down onto hers, surprising Gem. She squeaks out a sound, then moan as his tongue barges into her mouth, wildly discovering hers. He wraps his strong arms around her waist and pulls her body into his as he continues to kiss Gem, hard and rough. She struggles to break free of his hold on her but his strength is no match for her smaller frame. He grunts as one arm goes free to pull off his black blazer and pull off his bow tie, popping open the top buttons of his white shirt. Sebastian wraps both his arms around her again and lifts her body off the floor, as one hand wraps one of her thighs around his waist. Gem is drowning in his aggressive kisses, she almost can't breathe as he pushes her back against the livingroom wall and grinds his erection up into her center. His hand clammers to pull up the hem of her dress as he finds his way to her panties and tries to pull them down. 

That's where Gem draws the line. 

Gem slaps his face once. Twice. Three times (the hardest), making him stop and drop her onto her feet. Sebastian steps back, huffing and puffing out of breath, his brows narrow as he stares at Gem taken aback by his own sexual impulse and her slaps. He clenches his jaw giving her one last look before walking toward the door, opening it and leaving the aparment. And leaving Gem alone to cry, alone. 

********

Gem wakes up in her bed to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She can't remember how she got there or when she dressed herself in a tank top and boy shorts but she must've collapsed in exhaustion from all the crying she did last night. She doesn't know what to say to Sebastian when she sees him. She does know that she is passed the stage of anger and sadness and has now entered the stage of acceptance and fear of a future without him. She reluctantly climbs out of bed and walks to the kitchen where her "Best Friends Forever" mug that Seb gave her for their one year anniversary sits on the table, steaming coffee billowing from the top and a small velvety black box beside it, opened. 

"Seb?" she calls out to no answer. 

Gem approaches her mug and the open box with caution. The closer she gets, the more she sees something in it, presenting itself to her. Something sparkling and bright. Exposed in that open box is a diamond ring with a gold band. Gem clasps her hands over her shocked mouth and lets out a cry of joy. She picks up the box and looks at the large princess cut diamond ring. 

"I, uh, actually bought that ring last year... your best friend helped me pick it out..... but I never gave it to you because....I chickened out..." Sebastian's voice is behind Gem. She spins around to see him standing there with his hands tucked inside his jeans pockets, slanted nervous smirk looking at her through his lashes.

Gem runs up to him, jumping up and planting kisses all over his face making him laugh. 

"WELL?!" Sebastian jokingly asks, "Do you wanna be mine till death do us part or what?!" 

Gem, her hands shaking, hands him the ring box and he gets down on bended knee, looking up at her happy face with a toothful smile, ear to ear. His hand- shaking as well- asks, "Gemmi, Will you marry me?" 

"YES YES YES YES YES!!" 

Sebastian jumps up and swoops her into his arms, spinning her around and bringing her in for a kiss. 

*


End file.
